Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 163 Live for yourself
Before the craftsmen arrived, Chen Xuan opened the door and walked around upstairs and downstairs, thinking about how to renovate the building. It was not a superfluous move, but given Gao Jingming's status, the style must also be kept up. Anyway, the Gao family is not short of money, so the cost can be reimbursed.

In the future, Xiao Gao must bring classmates and friends with him. It would be disrespectful if it were too shabby.

Almost all the original household items in the house were moved out, which saved a lot of trouble.

The entire building is a two-story, three-room tiled house with three side rooms on the left, forming a horizontal L shape.

Except for the central hall, the main house is divided into two rooms on both sides. The upstairs has the same layout. Together with the wing rooms, there are a total of sixteen rooms upstairs. The indoor building area is roughly four or five hundred square meters, with balconies and corridors in the front and back.

After reading it, Chen Xuan went to the yard to look at the house, and he already had an idea in his mind.

His plan was to use the inner room on the left side of the second floor of the main house as Gao Jingming's bedroom, and the outer room as Xiaocai and the others' room to facilitate care and service. The three side rooms on the second floor next to each other would use the outer room on the street as a study, the middle room as a cloakroom, and the room on the back facing the river as a bathroom on the second floor. Both the cloakroom and the bathroom would have to be connected to the bedroom by a door. Secondly, the largest room in the middle of the second floor would be made into a tea room. As for the two rooms on the right side next to each other, Chen Xuan planned to demolish the walls, keep the roof and pillars, and make it a semi-open terrace so that people could enjoy the scenery in front and behind from the second floor.

Next is the first floor. The central hall of the main house is made into a reception room. The two rooms on the right, the inner room facing the river is used as your bedroom, and the outer room is used as a place to store your clothes and other personal belongings. There is no need to compromise yourself. The two rooms on the left, inner and outer, can be used as guest rooms and are usually empty.

Then there are the wing rooms on the first floor. There is a study on the street side, and the middle is used as a living space for the guards. One or two people can live in one room. The kitchen is on the river side.

In this way, the planning of the main building is completed. Chen Xuan doesn't understand design, so he just does whatever he likes and leaves it to the craftsmen to worry about it.

Anyway, all the rooms must have large, bright windows, especially the room in the middle of the upper and lower floors, which should be made into four doors to show its grandeur.

The wing room that was closer to the previous one was originally a storage room and firewood room. Chen Xuan planned to demolish it because it would block the light from the study on the first floor and it was unnecessary to have it, so he moved it to the tool room on the right.

It is necessary to keep the firewood room and separate it from the main house. Firewood and charcoal need to be stored in the winter to prevent water from leaking.

He planned to put the woodshed and the tool room side by side, and convert the tool room into a bathroom, the kind that could be used for saunas and baths. Oh, and a toilet. The yard was big enough, so he simply built three small houses next to each other on the right side, one for the toilet, one for the bathroom, and one for the woodshed.

The last step is the planning of the yard. From the main gate to the yard gate, an S-shaped cobblestone road is built to divide it into two sides. The osmanthus tree on the right side of the firewood room is retained, a well is dug in the corner, and a small bamboo forest is planted on the side. A pavilion is built on the left, and banana trees are planted next to it. It is nice to occasionally drink tea in the pavilion and listen to the rain hitting the banana trees. There should also be a cobblestone road connecting to the main road, and the rest of the open space is planted with flowers and plants.

There is also a circle of buildings. The bamboo fence has been removed and turned into a half-person-high wooden fence. Some ivy has been planted. There is no need for a wall. There is usually at least one guard guarding here. The gate of the courtyard needs to be made more grand, and the steps facing the river at the back need to be repaired and some stone railings should be installed.

After thinking it over and there was probably nothing missing, Chen Xuan decided on this plan. This major renovation would definitely cost a lot of money, not to mention furniture and decoration, but it was not a big problem. The Gao family had informed him in advance, and the total cost, including buying the house, would be 1,000 taels of silver.

Calculating the time, I have been away for almost a month. I have to find time to send a letter back to let the Gao family prepare next month's expenses.

As he grew older, Gao Jingming's monthly allowance also increased. Now his monthly expenses are as full as three hundred taels, which includes social engagements and the like. As long as he doesn't go to high-consumption places like brothels, it is enough.

In the future, when Xiao Gao can go to places like brothels, the expenses will naturally increase. Such places are real money-consuming caves. If you don't have money, what's the point of talking about elegance? Do you expect the girls to pay for you out of love? Well, it's not impossible, as long as Xiao Gao can make a name for himself in the future.

It doesn't take much time to send a letter to the Gao family to ask for money. It will be done in a few days at most. After all, expedited delivery does not mean rushing. As long as we open an account in the money house and the Gao family deposits the money, we can withdraw it at any time. As for how to operate it, that is the business of the money house.

When it comes to information transmission, there are ways to do it on a small scale and ways to do it over long distances. In short, as long as you have money, there is nothing you can't do.

When he had almost figured it out, craftsmen arrived one after another, including carpenters, stonemasons, bricklayers, and even those who specialized in well digging.

Jiang Kai must have instructed the craftsmen along the way. When they arrived, one of the carpenters, carrying a basket of tools on his back, came up to Chen Xuan and bowed, "Excuse me, are you in charge, young master?"

This man looked to be in his forties or fifties, with a simple and honest face and calluses all over his hands. He must have good skills. There were two apprentice-like characters following behind him.

"Master, you are polite. My name is Chen Xuan. I am in charge of trivial matters on behalf of my young master. May I ask what your name is?" Chen Xuan also saluted, showing full respect to the other party.

Putting aside his personal status and strength, Chen Xuan knew very well that he should not offend these craftsmen easily. Otherwise, they would be resentful and cause trouble for him while he was working, which would give him a headache.

Feng Shui is something you can believe in or not. For example, if a craftsman like a carpenter tinkers with your things, it may not be a big problem, but it can be disgusting. What if he installs some tricks on your things and weird noises come out in the middle of the night, just like a ghost. This is how many superstitious things happen among the people.

Ghosts are not necessarily real ghosts, but people are often real ghosts.

"Young man, you are too kind. You don't have to call me Fang. Just call me Old Man Fang," the carpenter said stiffly. He was already quite old and had worked for many wealthy families. Naturally, he could tell that Chen Xuan and his family were not ordinary people.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and the introductions of the other craftsmen, Chen Xuan said, "Masters, my plan is this..."

Then he carefully told everyone the plan he had prepared.

After hearing this, the masters looked at each other with strange expressions, muttering to themselves, "Your operation is not much different from starting over from scratch." Seeing this, Chen Xuan asked with a guilty conscience, "Masters, can you do it?"

"Of course we can, but the price needs to be negotiated first," Master Fang said after a moment of hesitation.

Chen Xuan immediately smiled and said, "As long as you can achieve the effect I described, the price is negotiable. Otherwise, how about this, so as not to trouble two people for one thing, you can also include the materials?"

"That's no problem," Master Fang said with a smile, as he could earn a lot from it.

Chen Xuan was not afraid of being cheated by the other party. He could inquire about the labor price and materials at any time. If the other party was too greedy, he would just replace him.

Then he asked, "If you follow what I said, how long will it take to finish it?"

"Young Master, we need to take a look at this first and plan the materials and so on before we can give you an answer," Master Fang said with a smile.

Well, Chen Xuan was a little anxious and said, "Those masters, please take a look first."

"Row……"

So several masters separated and looked at it carefully from top to bottom.

After a while, they finished looking and discussed it before finding Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan asked, "How are you, Masters?"

"No rush," Master Fang smiled and continued, "Young Master, let's talk about the materials first. Different materials have different prices. Then, let's talk about the workmanship. We brought a lot of sample drawings. You can take a look at them first. Different workmanship has different prices. In addition, if we are responsible for both the materials and the workmanship, the meals must also be discussed in advance."

"Row"

Chen Xuan also knew that he couldn't eat hot tofu in a hurry, so he discussed and negotiated with them patiently. He didn't just accept whatever they said. Chen Xuan still had to bargain for a while. Finally, he privately asked Jiang Kai about the situation. When he felt that the price was right, he decided to give them the next job.

The materials definitely cannot be too good, that would be unpredictable, so ordinary ones will do. They will be responsible for the labor and materials, and they will take care of the food themselves. Anyway, the total cost will be about two hundred taels, which is within Chen Xuan's expectations.

The wages account for the bulk of the cost. There's nothing you can do about it; they make a living by their skills.

Having said that, when buying the entire yard, the most expensive thing is not the building itself, but the land, after all, it is permanent property. Then there is the labor cost, which is the same everywhere.

After the discussion, several masters started to work. The first thing they did was of course to prepare the materials. Chen Xuan asked Zhao Erhe to go with them to watch so as not to be cheated.

Then Chen Xuan instructed Jiang Kai and the others to buy some necessities such as beds and beddings. They would have to stay here for two days. Only when everything was back on track would Chen Xuan return to the academy, and let Zhao Erhe and the others look after this place.

Master Fang and his team said that everything would be done in about twenty days. If nothing unexpected happens, Gao Jingming and his team will be able to come back and live in the new house during their vacation this month. By then, the Gao family will have the money in place, so they can start purchasing daily necessities and decorations.

It was like decorating a new home. Chen Xuan had never experienced this in his previous life, but now he could actually experience it, and this was someone else's...

It doesn’t matter, as long as he wants it, he will have it.

In fact, Chen Xuan already had a plan in his mind, which was to get some money and prepare an extra private space, because his head was like a treasure house. Now that he had settled down and his cultivation was sufficient, he could start trying to refine pills and weapons and slowly accumulate experience.

His plan was to use some common and cheap medicinal materials in the short term to make some simple but effective pills to earn his first pot of gold, and then start building his own operating base when he had money.

He hasn't decided what to do yet, so there's no rush.

The day passed in a busy manner. After staying in the "new home" for one night, the craftsmen came to start working early the next morning. However, the weather was not good and it started to drizzle.

Having nothing to do, he was not in a hurry to go back to Gao Jingming. He asked Zhao Erhe and others to look after the construction site. Chen Xuan held up an oil-paper umbrella and planned to stroll around Mo City, just to steal half a day of leisure from his busy life.

He also took the opportunity to look for a private venue he wanted to build, and observe ways to make money. Making some elixirs to earn his first pot of gold was not his only option.

To put it bluntly, with Chen Xuan's current strength in the innate realm, wouldn't it be easy for him to make money if he took some shortcuts?
Besides daily life, it’s time to live for yourself...

(End of this chapter)